We are entering a period where machine learning is going to dramatically change the nature of work across a broad swath of service and knowledge industries.

Extremists see a world where all human work evaporates rapidly, driving a conversation about human dignity and equality in a world of technological unemployment. A more sober group believes we’re on the brink of eliminating a class of repetitive white-collar knowledge work—not unlike transitions we have gone through in the past.

No subscription? You're missing out.

Join the high-powered community of tech and business leaders who rely on The Information's original news and in-depth reporting.

Ultimately, I believe the combination of measurement and machine learning that is coming to the workplace will ideally make work more open, productive and fair—and fundamentally make human work more human. But it will not be a simple task to navigate.

Login or Subscribe to follow the discussions happening here and real-time in our Slack Community.

Modest ProposalsThe Future of Work

People, especially Americans, spend long hours at work and yet aren’t as productive as they could be. A lot of the workday is funneled into browsing social media and the news, chatting with friends, etc.